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Tuesday, February 19, 2019, 10:39
Plan outlines development of integrated region
By Oswald Chan in Hong Kong, Chai Hua and Zhou Mo in Shenzhen
Tuesday, February 19, 2019, 10:39 By Oswald Chan in Hong Kong, Chai Hua and Zhou Mo in Shenzhen

Greater economic power envisioned through cross-border connectivity, infrastructure

Business and technology professionals in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area said the newly released blueprint would fuel the region's economic growth and consolidate Hong Kong's pivotal role in the national master plan.

"The outline sets out key directions guiding the development of the Greater Bay Area," the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city's de facto central bank, said on Monday. "The HKMA will proactively follow up with mainland authorities to implement the related policy initiatives."

Peter Wong Tung-shun, deputy chairman and chief executive at Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, sees positive prospects.

"With the direction given by this policy, cities and regions in the Bay Area can develop plans to leverage those complementary strengths in technology, financial services and tourism more effectively," Wong said.

The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area supports consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's status as an international financial center, as well as strengthening its status as the global offshore renminbi business hub and its role as an international asset management and risk management center.

It also supports the establishment of a platform for investment and financing to serve the Belt and Road Initiative and assist mainland enterprises in establishing capital operations and corporate treasury centers in Hong Kong.

Shen Minggao, chief economist at GF Securities, believes a connected funding market will help the region give full play to its advantages.

"One of the difficulties for the region's development is tying the local economy to the international finance market. I suggest setting up more connection channels in the secondary capital markets in the region, other than the current stock and bond connect programs," Shen told China Daily.

ALSO READ: HK welcomes Greater Bay Area development blueprint

Besides financial services, the outline also projects that the Bay Area will develop into a global innovation and technology hub.

Kelvin Lei Chunran, founder and chief executive of robo-adviser startup Magnum Research, said that his demands could be met by some Hong Kong-and Macao-oriented incubators of technology enterprises, as the outline states that these incubators will be developed in nine cities across Guangdong. They could assist higher education institutions and research and development institutes in the two SARs to transfer and apply their advanced technological achievements.

The outline also strives to improve connectivity to facilitate reciprocal flows of labor and production inputs.

For further integration between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, a major item that needs to be improved is border infrastructure, said Guo Wanda, executive vice-president of China Development Institute, a think tank in Shenzhen.

Guo said more efforts have to be made renovating borders and improving services - for example, introducing facial recognition technology to enhance efficiency and including more ports with 24-hour services.

"Hong Kong should strengthen cooperation with other Bay Area cities at the government-to-government level to help Hong Kong enterprises better facilitate their businesses in the mainland and expand the market in the Greater Bay Area," said Dennis Ng Wangpun, president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong.

READ MORE: Bay Area plan aims to boost livelihoods: Experts

Measures such as the establishment of a mutual recognition mechanism for trademark registration in the region, a coordination system for intellectual property protection, and an open product testing and certification market could certainly bring benefits to the region, Ng said.

Development objectives

By 2022

The combined strength of the Greater Bay Area should increase substantially; the cooperation of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao should be deepened and broadened; the internal driving forces for development should be further enhanced in the region; and the framework for an international first-class bay area and world-class city cluster that is vibrant and highly innovative with an optimized industrial structure, a smooth flow of various factors and a pleasant ecological environment should essentially be formed.

  • Regional development should become more coordinated, and a city cluster that has a reasonable division of labor, complementary functions and coordinated development should basically be established.

  • The environment for coordinated innovative development should be enhanced; the aggregation of factors of innovation should be accelerated; and the innovation capacity regarding new technologies and the commercial application of scientific and technological achievements should be significantly enhanced.

  • Supply-side structural reforms should be further deepened; the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries should be accelerated; the core competitiveness of emerging and manufacturing industries should continuously increase; the digital economy should see rapid growth; and the development of modern service industries, such as financial services, should be expedited.

  • Infrastructure support and protection, such as transportation, energy, information and water resources, should be further strengthened, and urban development and management should be further enhanced.

  • A green, intelligent, energy-saving and low-carbon mode of production and lifestyle, as well as urban development and management, should be established initially, and the lives of residents should become more convenient and happier.

  • There should be accelerated development of a new open economy, greater connectivity for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao markets, more effective and efficient flow of various resources and production factors and more vibrant cultural exchanges.

By 2035

The Greater Bay Area should become an economic system and mode of development mainly supported by innovation, with its economic and technological strengths vastly increased and its international competitiveness and influence further strengthened.

  • Markets within the Greater Bay Area should be moving toward high connectivity, with effective and efficient flow of various resources and factors of production.

  • The coordination of regional development should markedly improve, with the influence on neighboring regions further strengthened.

  • The people should become wealthier.

  • The level of social civility should reach new heights, with cultural soft power demonstrably strengthened, Chinese cultural influence broadened and deepened and exchange and integration between different cultures further enhanced.

  • Levels of conservation and efficient use of resources should be significantly improved; the ecological environment should be effectively protected; and an international first-class bay area for living, working and traveling should be fully developed.

Tourists visit Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong earlier this month. During the Spring Festival holiday, more than 400,000 trips were made from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong via newly opened ports at West Kowloon Railway Station and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. (ZHANG WEI / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

Positioning of four core cities

Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are core engines for regional development that will play a radiating role as they lead the development of nearby regions.

Hong Kong

International financial, transportation and trade centers; an international aviation hub; a global offshore business hub using yuan; an international asset management center; a risk management center; a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region; an international metropolis with enhanced competitiveness.

Development of high-end and high value-added financial, commercial and trading, logistics and professional services will be promoted, and great efforts will be made to develop Hong Kong's innovative and technology industries, as well as to nurture emerging industries.

Macao

World-class tourism and leisure center and a commercial and trade cooperation service channel between China and Portuguese-speaking countries; a base for exchange and cooperation in which Chinese culture is mainstream and diverse cultures coexist.

Guangzhou

A national core city and an integrated gateway city; an international commerce and industry center and integrated transport hub; technological, educational and cultural centers; a global metropolis.

Shenzhen

A special economic zone; a national economic core city; a national innovation city; a modern, international city; a capital of innovation and creativity with global influence.

Dai Kaiyi and Edith Lu contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at oswald@chinadailyhk.com


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